In general, the sash header of an automotive door is required to serve several utilities. These include: retaining external trim at the uppermost part of the vehicle door; retaining internal trim at an upper part of the door; providing a means for attaching a glazing seal to an upper part of the door; and providing attachment and a support mechanism for the primary weatherstrip of the door. Of course, with high volume automotive vehicles it is desirable to perform these functions using the least amount of material, the least assembly time, the lowest cost, and the lowest possible complexity. U.S. Pat. No. 6,641,204 discloses a molding attachment structure for an automotive door which provides at least some of the functions listed above, but with anticipated increased cost and complexity due to the need for push through fasteners to contain a primary weatherstrip to the header. In addition to increasing complexity and cost, such fasteners also provide additional paths for corrosion.
The present door sash header overcomes problems noted with components found in the prior art by providing a unitary roll-formed header not needing any fasteners for the installation of either the header or the components, such as a primary weatherstrip attached to the header.